Twelve Hundred Postcards

Exciting news for Hastings real ale fans – a new micropub is set to open at 80 Queens Road with a mission to sell great British ale.

Hastings Planning Committee has granted planning permission for the new pub venture and work has begun to convert the former shop, which has been empty for several years.

It will be called Twelve Hundred Postcards in reference to illegal activity that took place on the site more than 100 years ago.

David Brumley, co-owner of the new venture with his partner Antonia Clarke, said: “Queens Road is ideal: some great independent businesses have opened here recently, such as the Queens Deli and Shop, Brewing Brothers at the Imperial and White Rhino so when the opportunity arose at auction to purchase number 80 I grabbed it with both hands.”

“Having visited dozens of micropubs in the country over the last few years, we fell in love with the concept and identified Queens Road as the ideal location.”

The pub’s name Twelve Hundred Postcards relates to the site’s former use as a sweet shop more than 100 years ago when the owner also secretly sold French postcards under the counter.

This illegal activity led to the premises being raided and the owner found guilty of corrupting the morals of the local community. He was sentenced to three months of hard labour in jail and the 1,200 postcards that sealed his fate were destroyed.

There has never been a better time to be a beer enthusiast in the UK. Sussex alone has an estimated 60-plus breweries, with the likes of Burning Sky and Franklins producing world-class brews.

The new venue will be a traditional micropub offering real ale served directly from the barrel.

There will also be wines from Sussex and further afield plus small batched gins.

The selection of ales will constantly rotate. David says the aim is to offer beers that are not widely available at other local venues, as well as a range of bottled and canned craft beers.

The venue will also provide a meeting point for residents to get together and chat over a quiet pint.

David has spoken with numerous other micropub owners about the venture and is friends with the owners of a similar new micropub, The Brickmaker’s Alehouse, planned for 27 Sea Road in Bexhill.

Initially the business will operate solely on the ground floor but there are also plans to open the first floor to community groups, clubs and societies.

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